The Royal Riding School - Jerez

I think most people must have heard of the Royal Riding School in Jerez with its dancing horses, and even those of us who haven’t yet visited it have some idea of the amazing show they put on there with their beautiful horses.

But truth be told there is much more to the place than just the show – it is a very big centre set in beautiful grounds with masses of things to look at, and it is also a working enterprise comprising a stud farm, a veterinarian clinic, training courses for riders, carriage-drivers, harness and saddle makers, clinical assistants and stable hands.

The origin of the foundation goes back to 1973, the first time its creator, Alvaro Domecq Romero, presented his show ‘How the Andalusian Horses Dance’ after having received the prestigeous ‘Caballo de Oro’ (Golden Horse) trophy by the then Prince Juan Carlos.

Domecq Romero ran the school himself for a number of years, but then it was taken over by the Ministry of Information and Tourism, and they purchased ‘Recreo e las Cadenas’ and installed the riding school there. ‘Recreo de las Cadenas’ is a palace set in beautiful gardens comprising also stables and covered and open riding rings.

In 1983 the foundation was purchased by its governing body, and this year the School acquired the stable of Don Pedro Domecq de la Riva, which consisted of thirty-five Spanish breed horses and a wonderful collection of nineteen horse-drawn carriages and their corresponding harnesses, some dating back to 1730, along with saddles and embroidery for both horses and coachmen, all pieces of incalculable historical value.

These can all be seen in the various museums within the grounds, the most famous of them the Horse Carriage Museum,

The tour starts in the great forecourt on the albero sand where you are surrounded by the colours of the bougainvillea, olive trees and aroma of orange blossom.

From this forecourt you can watch the horses on the lunge, in a central practice arena, and if you wish, sit down a while on the small row of seats provided for just that purpose. Then you pass through to the main hall, a sherry warehouse which still preserves its aromas and age. In this warehouse the twelve most significant carriages are on display, with their tack and lances.

When you pass out through the back of the warehouse you get to the washing area, which is where the carriage horses are hosed down every time they have been working.

From there you go on into the stables, which are set in another old sherry warehouse, and which houses some 44 horses, 18 of which are beautiful chestnut thoroughbred Spanish horses.

A third and final warehouse, the Bodega 1810, holds the rest of the carriages, some of which are just as magnificent as those in the first warehouse.

The Museum of Equestrian Arts is set in the main palace and it is an extremely comprehensive museum with far too many themes to go into detail with them all, so let’s just mention what the main themes are:

You can also visit the gardens where the palace is set, exhibit an amazing mixture of local and exotic flora. As a special feature, the park has since 2006 been home to a couple of przewalski horses, the world’s last true wild horse (all other wild horses being descendents of domestic breeds).

Of course, in spite of all the amazing sights and interesting museums, when you visit the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art the actual show, ‘How the Andalusian Horses Dance’, will be the icing on the cake.

It consists of various disciplines within the equestrian art, all performed with an accompaiment of Spanish music, and the riders all wear 18th century costumes. These are the disciplines than enter:

The show is incredibly beautiful and impressive. Whether or not you are a lover of horses, you will be moved (to tears like me?) by the tremendous effort these noble animals make to carry out the gravity-defying exercises their handlers ask of them.

A visit to the Royal Andalusian Centre of Equestrian Art makes a tremendous day out for the whole family, there is so much to see and do that you will find it hard to pack it all into one day!